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New Technology Train (RollOverTheFloor)
New Technology Train (NTT) is the collective term for the modern passenger fleet of the New York City Subway that has entered service since the turn of the 21st century. This includes the current R142, R142A, R143, and R160 models and the planned R211 and R262 models. Sometimes referred to as New Millennium Trains, they are known for improvements in technology, energy efficiency, reliability, and comfort along with advanced passenger information systems. All of these trains are capable of Communication Based Train Control (CBTC), which can allow for automatic train controls, and compatibility with updated signal systems. Much of the engineering and construction efforts for the fleet have been done by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Bombardier Transportation. Alstom also helped to build some of the trains, specifically the R160A. List of New Technology Trains This is a list of all NTT trains operated by the New York City Subway, as well as future trains and retired trains. Current *R142 – Built by Bombardier Transportation. The first production model of NTT trains ever built. Built for the A Division. Entered service on July 10, 2000. Assigned to the 2, 4, and 5. The R142s are similar to the R142As. *R142A – Built by the Kawasaki Rail Car Company. The second model of NTT trains. Used by the A Division. Entered service on July 10, 2000, the same day the R142s entered service. Assigned to the 4 and 6. The R142As are similar to the R142s. *R143 – Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The third model of NTTs and the first model of NTTs for the B Division, assigned to the L. Entered service on February 12, 2002. Equipped with CBTC, the first subway car to be equipped with this feature. The R143s are similar to the R160s. *R160 – Built by Alstom and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Used by the B Division. The fourth model of NTT trains. There are two sub-types since these cars were built by two different manufacturers. R160As were built by Alstom, while R160Bs were built by Kawasaki. The R160Bs entered service on August 17, 2006, while the R160As entered service on October 17, 2006. Currently, the R160As are assigned to the E, F, J/Z, L, and M; the R160Bs are assigned to the N/W and Q. 20 four-car sets have CBTC for the L. The R160s are similar to the R143s. Future R211 – To be built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Will be used on the B Division, as well as on the Staten Island Railway. 20 cars are open-gangway experimental prototype cars. Will possibly also have Wi-Fi, security cameras, digital video screens and electronic charging stations. The design of the R211 will be completely different compared to the design of the other NTT trains. R262 – Will be used by the A Division and include open gangways, communications-based train control, and ethernet systems. Manufacturer is to be announced. History The New Technology program emerged from modernization efforts by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) beginning in 1982, when the subway "was on the verge of collapse". The New Technology program officially began in 1988, the first effort at a technologically-advanced subway car since the R44 in the early 1970s. In 1997, the first mass order of New Technology trains was placed for the R142 and R142A trains of the A Division (awarded to Bombardier and Kawasaki respectively), in order to replace the final 1,410 Redbird cars in operation. In 1998, a smaller contract of 216 cars, consisting of 108 in the base order and another 108 in the optional order, was awarded to Kawasaki Heavy Industries, to build the R143 model for the B Division's BMT Eastern Division (exclusively the BMT Canarsie Line's L train). The first R142s and R142As entered service beginning in July 2000. The R143s began operation in February 2002. In July 2002, the MTA awarded contracts to Kawasaki and Alstom Transportation for the R160 order for the B Division, with options for up to 2,264 cars to replace many 1960s- and 1970s-era cars. The first R160 train, built by Kawasaki under the contract R160B, began service on August 17, 2006, on the N. The initial TBA-car base order was filled by October 2008, and all R160 cars were delivered by May 6, 2010. On January 19, 2018, the MTA Board suggested that Kawasaki Rail Car Corp., a subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, be awarded $TBA for 1,318 new R211 cars in the base order, with an option order of TBA additional cars for fleet expansion. The cars are anticipated to be delivered from 2020 to 2023, with the option orders to be delivered by 2025. The base order cars will replace the remaining R32s (250 cars) and R42s (50 cars), as well as the R44s on the Staten Island Railway (64 cars) and all R46s (752 cars). The cars will be assembled at Kawasaki's factories in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Yonkers, New York. The first test train is expected to be delivered in July 2020, with the production cars being delivered between 2021 and 2023. Design and features The NTT models utilize a common car design; stainless-steel car bodies with a black front fascia on the "A" (cab) cars, open lexan-glass windows on non-cab ends allowing passengers to see through to the next car, and electronic outer route signs, as opposed to the rollsigns used by previous models. Improvements to the conductors' interface include the addition of speedometers as well as electronic consoles that monitor mechanical problems that may occur on the train. The cars feature a white fiberglass interior with blue-gray plastic bench seats both to combat vandalism, along with bright fluorescent lighting and LED interior passenger information signs. The bench-style seats, designed with lumbar supports, also replaced the unpopular bucket-style seats used on rolling stock built in the 1970s and '80s, which were both uncomfortable for passengers and hard to clean. The trains utilize an airbag suspension (replacing conventional springs) for a more comfortable ride, and employ regenerative braking which converts the energy from brake application into electricity that is fed back into the third rail. All NTT trains are capable of being equipped with communications-based train control (CBTC) technology, which is installed in the "A" cars behind the train operator's cab. Currently, only the R142s, R142As, R143s, as well as eighty R160As, have been upgraded for automated service, on the 2, 4, 5, 6, and L. Record announcements The NTTs are the first rolling stock in the system to utilize pre-recorded train announcements, as opposed to live announcements from conductors. The recorded announcements are used for station information, closing doors, and other general messages. Station announcements rely on a wheel-rotation counter to make accurate stop announcements. The recordings began in the late 1990s and feature Bloomberg Radio on-air speakers, who volunteered at the request of their employer Michael Bloomberg, who would later become mayor of New York City. Voices include Diane Thompson (for the 1, 2, and 3), Jessica Ettinger Gottesman (for the 4, 5, and 6), Annie Bergen (for the 7 and 42nd Street Shuttle), Catherine Cowdery (for the E, G, J, L, M, N, Q, R, (V discontinued), W, and Z), Kathleen Campion (for the A, C, and F, as well as the Franklin Avenue Shuttle and Rockaway Park Shuttle), and Charlie Pellett (for other announcements). Female voices are typically used for station, route, and transfer/connection announcements. Pellett's recordings are used for the remaining announcements, most notably "Stand clear of the closing doors, please" before train doors closing, but also for safety announcements such as "Please be careful of the gap between the platform and the train" before entering a station with curved platforms, and "If you see something, say something." With regards to why certain messages are voiced by males and others by females, MTA spokesperson Gene Sansone said in 2006, "Most of the orders are given by a male voice, while informational messages come from females. Even though this happened by accident, it is a lucky thing because a lot of psychologists agree that people are more receptive to orders from men and information from women." Manual announcements can still be made over the public address system by train operators and conductors. Electronic strip maps The R142s, R142As, and R143s feature electronic "strip maps." These maps utilize a total of 63 ambers LED lights, numbered 001–063, to display stops, with a plastic card on top showing the route, stations, and transfers. A light will flash when a stop is being approached, and while idle at that stop. Lights turned off to indicate a stop already reached, or a part of the route not serviced on that particular trip. LED arrows at either end of the map indicate the direction of service. While an upgrade from static route maps, most of the strip maps can only facilitate one service and must be turned off when a train is used on another route; the R142s assigned to the 2 and 5 trains are the only cars to feature combined strip maps showing both routes, as the 2 and 5 are based from the East 180th Street and 239th Street Yards and thus, have large amounts of route overlap on the IRT White Plains Road, Eastern Parkway, and Nostrand Avenue lines. FIND displays The R160s, as well as the future R211s, employ an advanced alternative to strip maps, called the "Flexible Information and Notice Display," or "FIND." This includes an LCD screen displaying the route, route information, and advertisements, as well as a dynamic red, yellow, and green LED strip map that displays the next ten stations, plus five consecutive "further stops" to riders. There are three of these in every car. The display updates the stations at every stop, also giving the number of stops to each station listed. This allows for instant route or line changes with the correct information, which includes, but is not limited to, omitting certain stops (displayed as "Will not stop" in red). The FIND system for the R211 will have multiple changes. The screen will display a map similar to the strip maps on the R142s, R142As, and R143s. It will have the ability to display more colors instead of just red, orange and green. When the train is at a station, two screens will be shown. The left side of the screen will display the station name, as well as the transfers and connections at that station (if there are any). The right side of the screen will show the stairs in the station and the train car the passenger is currently in (designated by the words “You are here”).